I saw this very interesting piece of hyperbolic Democratic BS on CNBC just now, and thought to myself, "Wait a minute there.... What have these guys been doing under the table with everything else going on in the world?"

Good old Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. He can sure turn a phrase.

Student loan crisis is just as big as climate change, Rep. Clyburn says.

Like, wow - REALLY?! Climate change - how scamtastic. So I should consider student loan debt on the same plane, eh?

Lucky thing I already do.

But, gracious - he sure sounds serious. Then again, it is an election year, and his POTATUS buddy isn't looking real strong on any front. Particulary this one, since SCOTUS knocked back their initial forgiveness plans, where they'd made the unfortunate strategic error of promising relief just prior to the 2022 elections. "Oh, fill out this form by umpteephrats day, " the Biden admin urged, "And you're guaranteed good to go!" Like Charlie Brown falling for the football, delinquent borrowers did, and WHAM. Flat on their backs when SCOTUS pulled the checkbook back.

 Chief cheerleader Clyburn won't give up beating the debt relief drum, though. He had the sob story spooled up and ready to go.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., was attending a church service in his hometown of Sumter, South Carolina, when a member of his staff handed him a letter from a constituent.

The man was writing to share the pain his student debt had caused him, and to thank Clyburn and President Joe Biden for their recent actions. After more than three decades of payments, he’d gotten over $100,000 of his debt forgiven.

Jeez Louise, I'd be crying, too. Actually, I am crying inside anyway, because what they don't pay for, we do. 

And it turns out what they haven't been paying for is quite a bit.

...The Biden administration’s reforms to the government’s student loan forgiveness programs have resulted in more than 3.7 million Americans receiving debt cancellation, for a total of $136 billion in aid. After the Supreme Court blocked the president’s sweeping debt forgiveness plan, which erased up to $20,000 for tens of millions of people, the president directed the U.S. Department of Education to work on a narrower debt relief package that would stand better legal chances.

CHA-CHING

But Clyburn is worried about two things. That what they've bought off so far isn't enough - he wants it everyone's loans paid off. And he frets that people still waiting on a handout will blame Biden for having to pay the debts they freely and voluntarily incurred instead of blaming SCOTUS - and the Republicans who put them on the bench - like they should be doing.

...These days, Clyburn is thinking about how student debt could impact the 2024 presidential election. He is worried many voters don’t understand it was the Supreme Court’s conservative majority that ultimately stopped Biden’s biggest plan for forgiveness.

See? That nasty conservative majority did this to suffering borrowers. Vote Democratic and we can fix that just like we can fix your student loans.

In the meantime, the loan giveaways continue. The number of write-offs under a 2022 program that used income-driven repayment (IDR) programs to massage balances or outright forgive them, has affected a staggering number of debt holders and a phenomenal amount of money. 

 I mean, the numbers are gobsmacking for a "temporary" program.

Nearly a million borrowers have been approved for student loan forgiveness under a Biden administration program associated with income-driven repayment. And close to 800,000 additional borrowers have received relief under related initiatives for those working in public service jobs.

More discharges are expected to go through this month after the Education Department approved an additional $5 billion in loan forgiveness. But while more relief is coming, this temporary initiative will be wrapping up soon.

...And the fix seems to be paying off. More than 930,000 borrowers have been approved for IDR loan forgiveness under the adjustment, according to the Education Department, with nearly $46 billion in discharges. The Account Adjustment can also benefit borrowers working toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a related program for those who devote their careers to nonprofit or government work. In conjunction with other PSLF-focused initiatives, the IDR Account Adjustment has resulted in at least 793,000 additional borrowers getting over $56 billion in student loan forgiveness.

All I can say is, "For God's sake wrap it up and quick!"

Also, "It's amazing how a SCOTUS decision is the word of God (see: Texas, border) until it's inconvenient for Democrats (see: student loans)."

I promised to ease student debt for millions of folks. The Supreme Court blocked me, but it didn’t stop me.

I found another way to help more than 3.7 million people—teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters—with over $130 billion in relief.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 31, 2024

Like this heartwarming little vignette, huh? From a guy named Clay Middleton. 

Do I seem unduly harsh?

We of the lower orders are delighted to pay your family's bills for things we cannot ourselves afford, but you are certainly well able to.

God bless America, no? https://t.co/VS6wfk9qGJ

— tree hugging s*ster 🎃 (@WelbornBeege) February 5, 2024

Trust me - I am nowhere near as harsh as I could be considering what this man's bio looks like. The nerve of him - the absolute, unmitigated gall.

This preening professional could have damn well paid his wife's student loans and probably helped his mom out to boot. And, oh, gosh - looked who he worked for in 2008. He is every bit the Democratic operative par excellence. We of the lower orders are indeed privileged to carry his load, no?

Clay Middleton is a special advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Office of Congressional, Intergovernmental, and External Affairs as a presidential appointee in the Obama administration. He is also a major in the South Carolina Army National Guard and earned the Bronze Star Medal for his combat service in Iraq. Clay held prior positions at the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, and the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the Corporation for National and Community Service. Prior to this, he was the lowcountry director for U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn, 2008 SC political director for Obama for America General Election campaign, and a field organizer for the Democratic National Committee in SC. Clay serves on the board of the Lowcountry Autism Consortium, as a member of the Truman National Security Project Defense Council, on the SC advisory committee of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and as chair of the Greater Charleston YWCA Harvey Gantt Triumph Award Selection Committee. Clay served as a delegate to the West Bank and Israel with the American Council of Young Political Leaders. He earned his Master of Arts in Social Science and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The Citadel. He is a Fellow of the tenth class of the Liberty Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Please, dude - I couldn't afford college, and the post-service college "benefits" for school when I was active amounted to a princely $4800 IF I contributed a nonrefundable $1200 of my own first. Thank you, Uncle Sam, for bupkiss. This character's GI benefits are post-911 and, even though they have been scaled back some (I don't think they are transferable to your kids any more) (!), they are generous beyond belief. And absolutely mind-blowing to those of us who served in the post-Vietnam but pre-Gulf War dead zone.

What a disgrace this clown is, but what a shining, poster-boy entitled example of the progressive gimme-gimme-gimme, take whatever you can mentality. And he's still an Army National Guard officer? Oh, my Lord.

 We have got to destroy this movement, the ideology in November. Have to strip the reins of power right out of its clawed paws.

Got to.

Holy smokes.